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After working on his yellow belt requirements on Zoom for over a year, Jonah has finally earned his orange belt! He was able to test in-person with his family watching. We are so proud of how hard he has worked and how much he has grown in maturity and strength. 🙌

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Mike & Kelly Visit!

What a wonderful week we had with them. They sent countless hours playing card games with kids, helping with math lessons, doing home repairs, climbing trees, drinking boba and lattes, going on hikes, and having wonderful conversations. 

Skate park to try some cool moves

boba. always. boba.

Olive dominating at thumb war

math and handwriting help!

bedtime story reading by Uncle Mike

Fixed so many things for us!

Mike is famous around these parts as the uncle who can climb trees, specifically our huge live oak in our backyard. The first words out of Jonah’s mouth when he saw him were about when they could get up in that tree again. Uncle Mike did not disappoint.

Love you guys and we’re so thankful for you.

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Mike gave Jonah a skateboard for Christmas and he's been practicing non stop since. He's getting pretty good at the basics and often chooses skateboarding when we go on walks or bike rides as a family. His favorite thing in the world is going to skateparks. Mike got a skateboard too and is trying to brush up on his mad teenage skater skills. Jonah is so proud to skate with his dad and learn from him. It's so sweet that it's an activity that they can do together.

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She was beyond excited to lose her first tooth!

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Close.

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This girl is growing up way too fast.

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December happenings over here.

Weekly hikes with friends

We rented out a movie theater to ourselves and suprised the kids with a fun movie and popcorn with their friends

Jonah was asked to outdoor cat-sit for some friends and neighbors of ours and he was in heaven!

We ate pizza in the car while we drove around to see Christmas lights

We made chocolate pretzels

Jonah and I still love going for bike rides.

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Cold springs are no joke. We had told the kids we could swim in the natural pools in OK so they got all suited and we all froze. We had no idea how cold they were! Mike and I only could make it in up to our knees because we couldn't feel our feet due to numbness. The boys insisted on jumping in.

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Old castles. cold springs. Hikes. And needing to go pee.

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Quick 3 day trip to OK. Only 1.5 hrs from Dallas. Fresh cold springs. Beautiful weather. Beautiful nature. Beautiful memories.

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Mom. Last night while I was going to bed, I talked to God for a long time. For like 10 minutes. I told him how delicious blueberries are and how I love their color. Then I asked Him what His favorite color is. I had thought it was red but now I know it’s yellow because all the golden streets and things He made in heaven.

Graham, age 6, while him and I were weeding the flowerbed 

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This is my favorite trial to hike. Getting out of the house in nature was good for all of our souls, except the seeing 3 big 🐍 part. I could have done without that.

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Celebrating our favorite 4 year old social-distancing style!

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just a few of my recent favorites

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Celebrating the most amazing husband and daddy we know on his bday--crab legs & shrimp, his fave!

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Here is our entertainer, Graham, passing out candy at our church’s trunk-or-treat festival on Halloween as well as keeping his family amused in our backyard.

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Starting in the fall, the kids joined a homeschool choir that met weekly near our home. A few weeks ago, they had a Christmas concert and we also decorated our tree. The top photo is of the preschool choir with Graham and Olive and the next photo is of the junior choir with Jonah near the center. They did a great job and it was a really good experience for them.